Prostheses have been known for a long time and serve to replace non-existent, e.g. lost limbs. Functional elements, e.g. prosthetic hands or prosthetic feet, are in this case fastened to a dimensionally stable outer socket, which surrounds the amputation stump on all sides and generally has a funnel-shaped embodiment. The outer socket serves to transmit the force from the amputation stump to the functional element. Outer sockets are produced from fiber reinforced plastics, wood or metal and are regularly adapted as precisely as possible to the amputation stump in order, in addition to a high comfort of wear with an ideal support effect, to be able to produce, inter alia, a negative pressure so as to be able to keep the prosthetic socket on the amputation stump.
The problem lies in the fact that the volume of an amputation stump varies over time; for example, an amputation stump initially swells up after the amputation or after surgery and then the swelling reduces again. However, a goal of prosthesis care lies in accustoming the patients as quickly as possible to the prosthetic provision. In order to enable, within predetermined boundaries, an adaptation to amputation stumps with changing diameters and lengths, EP 1 411 872 B1 describes a prosthesis which describes a silicone liner with a coupling pin, a prosthetic socket, which has been provided with longitudinal slits and the diameter of which can be changed by means of tensioning elements, and a holder for connecting an artificial limb to the prosthetic socket, in which the longitudinal slits are bypassed. The prosthetic socket has a concentric collar, in which a cylindrical adapter is fastened in a height-adjustable manner.